Love this! My kitchen is basically dark cabinets, and blue pearl granite, designed for my husband, and all men really like it; floors are dark wood, too. I think you will be have more than enough variation with the way the light will hit the different surfaces, but I would still ask the pros at the lighting stores to see if you have maximized your flexibility with the three kinds of light. Include dimmers. Be sure to install your under cabinet lights close to the edge of the cabinet and not to the wall, and have plenty of can lights over each shoulder where you will be working, including the sink and stove. Think about the handles on your cabinets -- a repeating theme. If they are knobs, you might want to add a contrast perhaps two different styles. Consider also that you have a floor surface that will add another texture/color/reflective surface. Even with my dark kitchen (contrast with mica in the granite and stainless steel appliances) we chose black and navy blue textiles for the floor rugs and kitchen towels. Perhaps you will find yourself in need of adding accessories with different color splashes that change with the season, but you may also like to stay with this sophisticated pallet and add more and more shades of gray or white. Take a look at the slate gray pearl air popcorn popper from Cuisinart. Or you could look to Crate and Barrel and Sur La Table for RED!!! Or Green, Yellow, Turquoise. Remember that food has color, too. And you can add texture/color with window coverings, paint. Your kitchen will also look great with some black frames for photographs in black and white or color, perhaps tinted black and white photos. I did add a large gold ceramic plate to pick up a color in my drapes in the family room, but I am not at all reconsidering the decision to stay with just two colors -- mahogany/ blue pearl. It's like a forest in my kitchen, peaceful.

I would speak to Tim Lorian of Milano Stone in Claremont, he knows everything about stone. www.milanostone.com.au

My son used to help me cook in the kitchen - he is 190 cm, I am 175cm. I have an old-fashioned breakfast bar which is raised above the level of the kitchen benchtop. My son would stand at the raised section, I would stand at the lower section, it worked really well. An alternative might be to have a pull out step in the kick board spaces for your wife to stand on - I don't know if it would be high enough, but it might make things more comfortable. Speaking from the point of view of a tall woman, I will have my next kitchen cupboards and laundry raised at least 10 cm to make my life more comfortable - bending forward for any length of time is seriously UN comfortable!

So you just want a bench ht table or bar table. I like a back on a chair, but kids don’t mind simple stools, which can be tucked under front of table out of way. Look for a design allowing this and stools with a foot rest bar to help kids climb down. One my kids got out of a high chair they quickly learnt how to climb safely off my kitchen stools, need help for a while getting up and down, but they helped keep them I’m place once up. :)